Most hurricane prep lists cover shutters, generators, and water. Doors and locks rarely make the list, until a door won’t latch properly during a storm, or won’t open at all afterward because the frame shifted under wind pressure. A little attention before the season peaks avoids both.
Why doors take more abuse than people expect
During high wind events, exterior doors flex. Pressure differences push and pull on the frame, and repeated flexing can work a strike plate loose, throw a deadbolt out of alignment, or crack an already-stressed frame. A door that latched fine in June can bind, stick, or fail to fully throw the bolt by August. None of that is obvious just looking at it, you find out when you actually try to lock up before a storm.
A few things worth checking now, not during a storm watch
- Deadbolt throwthe bolt should extend fully into the strike plate with the door closed normally, no lifting or shoving needed.
- Strike plate screwslong screws that reach the door frame’s structural stud hold far better than the short screws often used in the original builder-grade install.
- Hinge screwsloose hinges let a door shift in its frame under wind load.
- Sliding glass door locksthese see some of the highest wind pressure in the house and are worth a dedicated look; a secondary track lock or pin is inexpensive insurance.
- Garage side and shed doorseasy to forget, often the weakest locks on the property.
If you’re leaving for storm season, or leaving town during it
This is also the moment to deal with any lingering “who has a key” questions, a rekey before you evacuate means one less thing to think about while you’re away. If you’re switching to a keyless deadbolt so a neighbor or family member can check on the house without a physical key changing hands, that’s a same-visit upgrade, not a separate project.
After the storm passes
If a door dragged, stuck, or wouldn’t latch during high winds, don’t wait for the next storm to find out why. A frame that’s slightly out of square is a quick adjustment now and a forced-entry risk later if it’s ignored.
We’re a family owned, South Florida, based team, licensed and insured technicians, not a subcontractor dispatched from out of state. If you want your doors checked before the season peaks, call (954) 406-8266 or see current pricing for lock repair and hardware adjustments on our pricing page.
Impact Doors Depend on Every Locking Point
Many homes and businesses in Broward and Miami-Dade now have impact rated entry doors. These doors are tested as complete assemblies: the slab, the frame, the glass, the hinges and the locking hardware together. A large number of them use multi-point locks, where lifting the handle or turning the key drives rods or hooks into the top and bottom of the frame in addition to the main latch and deadbolt. Those extra points are part of what lets the door resist wind pressure.
The catch is that the extra points only help when they are engaged. Many owners never lift the handle fully, or the top and bottom rods have stopped reaching their keepers because the door has settled. The door looks locked from the inside but is only held at the center. Before storm season, close the door, lift the handle all the way, and throw the lock. Then look at the top and bottom of the door edge and confirm that the rods or hooks are actually entering their receivers. If the handle is hard to lift, something is out of alignment, and forcing it wears out the gearbox inside the lock.
Keep the Product Approval Intact When Changing Hardware
Broward and Miami-Dade counties fall within the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone defined in the Florida Building Code, which sets demanding requirements for exterior doors and windows. Products used here typically carry a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance or a Florida product approval that lists the components tested with the door, including specific hardware.
That has a practical consequence when you replace a lock. Swapping the original multi-point lock or deadbolt for a random part that does not appear in the approval can change how the door performs and may raise questions during an inspection or an insurance claim. When a lock on an impact door fails, the safest route is to replace it with the same model or an approved equivalent. We identify the existing hardware and source matching parts rather than improvising with whatever fits the holes.
French Doors and Double Doors
Pairs of doors are often the weakest opening in a house during a storm. The inactive leaf is held only by flush bolts at the top and bottom, and the active leaf latches into the inactive one. If either flush bolt is not fully extended into its hole, wind can push both doors in at the center. Check that each flush bolt slides all the way into the head of the frame and into the floor or sill. Clear sand and debris out of the floor hole, since a partly blocked hole is the most common reason a bottom bolt stops short. On impact rated pairs, the astragal where the doors meet is part of the tested assembly, so a bent or loose astragal should be repaired before the season.
Sliding Glass Doors: Locks, Tracks and Shutters
Sliders are large, and the wind load on them is correspondingly high. The factory latch on most sliders is designed to keep the door shut, not to hold it against a hurricane or a determined intruder. A secondary lock, such as a foot bolt or a pin through the frame, keeps the panel from sliding or being lifted. Check the track for sand and grit, which prevents the door from closing fully and keeps the latch from catching. Adjust the rollers if the panel drags or sits low.
If you protect sliders with removable panels or accordion shutters, the door lock is not your only line of defense, but it still matters. A door that is not fully closed and latched behind a shutter can rattle, work its latch loose, or let water in around the frame.
Shutter Locks and Their Missing Keys
Accordion and roll-down shutters often have their own small keyed locks. These keys are among the most commonly lost keys in South Florida, because they sit unused for months between storms. Find your shutter keys now. Try each one in its lock to confirm it still turns, since shutter locks are fully exposed to the weather and seize easily. If a key is missing or a lock is frozen with corrosion, it is far easier to fix before a storm watch than during one, when every locksmith and shutter company is busy.
Garage Doors and Their Locks
A garage door failure during a hurricane can let wind into the house and increase pressure on the roof. Wind rated garage doors, common in newer construction here, are designed to resist that. Many older doors can be improved with bracing kits, which is a job for a garage door company. From a lock standpoint, there are two things to check. First, if your garage has a manual slide lock, know where it is and whether it works, since locking the door manually adds resistance and keeps it from being lifted if the power is out. Second, know how to use the emergency release on your opener. If power is lost after the storm, you will need to open the door by hand to get a car out. Practice it before the season so you are not learning in the dark.
Electronic Locks and Power Outages
Keypad deadbolts and smart locks run on batteries, so they keep working when the power goes out. The risk is that the batteries run down during the long stretch without power that often follows a storm, when you are least able to deal with it. Put fresh batteries in every electronic lock at the start of hurricane season. Find the physical backup key and keep it somewhere you can reach from outside the house or on your key ring. Learn the emergency power method your lock uses, since many models accept a battery held against contacts on the outside.
Smart locks that rely on a home Wi-Fi bridge will lose remote functions when the internet is down, even if the keypad still works. If you rely on remote access to let a neighbor or relative in while you are away, give them a code that works on the keypad itself rather than depending only on the app.
Businesses: Access Control and Fail Modes
Commercial buildings with electronic access control should know how each door behaves when power is cut. Fail-safe locks, such as magnetic locks, release when power fails, which leaves the door unlocked. Fail-secure locks, such as most electric strikes, stay locked, which means someone must have a mechanical key to get in. Battery backups on the power supplies keep the system running for a while, but not indefinitely. Before storm season, test the backup batteries, confirm that the people who need mechanical override keys actually have them, and decide who will check the building after the storm. A building full of fail-safe doors that loses power for days can be standing open while everyone is at home.
Storefront Preparation
Retailers and restaurant owners preparing storefronts should check that the deadlock on each door throws fully into its strike, that cylinder guards are tight, and that the door closer brings the door completely closed. If you install plywood or storm panels over storefront glass, remember that the door must still be usable as an exit if anyone will be inside, and that panels installed over a door may hide storm damage to the lock until they come off. Collect every key to the front door before a storm. Staff who evacuate may not return quickly, and you do not want to discover afterward that nobody left in town can open the store.
Key Logistics When You Evacuate
If there is any chance you will leave ahead of a storm, think about keys now:
- Decide who will check on the property after the storm and make sure they have a working key or code.
- If you use a key lock box outside, confirm the code works and change it if too many people know it.
- Take a spare set of every key you might need with you, including car keys, mailbox keys, and keys to any storage unit.
- Photograph your locks, doors and frames. Pictures showing condition before the storm are useful if you need to make a claim afterward.
- Keep important documents such as deeds, titles and insurance policies with you or in a safe that protects against both fire and water.
Safes and Water
Many home safes carry a fire rating but offer little protection against flooding. A safe that is fire rated may still let water in if it is submerged. If you keep documents or electronics in a safe on the ground floor of a home in a flood prone area, put the contents in sealed waterproof bags inside the safe, or move them higher. After a flood, open a wet safe as soon as practical so contents can dry, and have the lock serviced, since electronic locks and mechanical dials both suffer after being submerged.
Corrosion After Storm Surge and Flooding
Salt water is hard on locks. After a storm surge or flooding that reached the doors, locks that were submerged will start to corrode inside within days. Rinse the exterior of affected locks with fresh water, let them dry, and apply a lubricant made for locks. Work the key several times. If the key is stiff or will not turn, have the lock serviced before it seizes completely. Electronic locks that were submerged usually need to be replaced, since the circuit board is unlikely to recover. Hinges, closers and strikes corrode as well and should be checked at the same time.
Securing a Damaged Door After the Storm
Once the storm has passed, damaged doors become a security problem. Neighborhoods with widespread damage attract looting and trespassing. If a door will not close or lock, secure it as soon as it is safe to do so. Temporary measures include reinforcing the strike, adding a surface bolt, or screwing a damaged exterior door shut if there is another usable exit. Never secure a door in a way that leaves a building with no usable way out. Photograph the damage first, then secure the door, then arrange permanent repair. After a major storm, repair demand is high, so a sound temporary fix buys time.
Frames That Moved
High wind and water can shift a door frame even when the door survives. The telltale signs are a deadbolt that now needs pushing or lifting to throw, a latch that no longer catches, a door that rubs where it never did before, and uneven gaps around the edges. As the page above notes, these are best corrected soon. A misaligned frame puts stress on the lock every time the door is used, and a bolt that barely enters its strike offers little protection against forced entry.
Condos and Shared Buildings
Condominium and apartment residents share responsibility for storm readiness with their association or management. Unit entry doors that open onto exterior walkways, common in low rise buildings across Broward, take wind and rain directly and deserve the same checks as a house door. Corridor doors in towers are usually protected, but balcony sliders are not. Check with your association about who is responsible for balcony door hardware and shutters, and whether they require shutters to be closed when owners leave for the season. Give management a working key or code if the association requires access for storm inspections. If you are away for the summer, arrange for someone to close shutters and confirm doors are locked when a storm approaches.
Gates and Pool Enclosures
Gates are easy to forget until they blow open. Gate latches and padlocks sit outdoors year round and corrode quietly. Before the season, confirm that each gate latches securely on its own and that padlocks open with their keys. After a storm, check pool gates in particular. A pool barrier gate that no longer self-closes and latches is a safety hazard for children, and storm damage to fences and gate posts often knocks the latch out of alignment even when the fence looks intact.
A Pre-Season Checklist
- Close each exterior door normally and confirm the latch catches without pushing.
- Throw each deadbolt and confirm it moves smoothly and fully into the strike.
- On multi-point doors, confirm the top and bottom points engage.
- Check flush bolts on double doors and clear their floor holes.
- Clean slider tracks and test secondary locks.
- Find and test every shutter key.
- Replace batteries in every electronic lock and locate the backup key.
- Test the garage door manual lock and practice the opener release.
- Collect and account for keys to every door, especially at a business.
- Lubricate locks with a product designed for locks.
Lubricants That Help and Ones That Hurt
Humidity and salt make lubrication important, but the wrong product causes its own trouble. Heavy oils and greases attract sand and dust, which then grinds against the pins inside the cylinder. Use a dry lubricant or a product labeled for locks, apply a small amount into the keyway, and work the key several times. Wipe off any excess from the face of the lock.
Why Timing Matters
When a storm is forecast, everyone suddenly needs the same things at once. Shutter companies, contractors, hardware stores and locksmiths are all stretched. The work on this page is simple and inexpensive when done early in the season, and hard to schedule when a watch has been posted. Treat the start of June as the moment to go through your doors, the same way you check your supplies.
Pro Locksmith helps homeowners across Broward County, north to Boca Raton and Delray Beach, and south to Aventura, North Miami, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove get their doors and locks ready for storm season, and prepares commercial properties as far north as West Palm Beach.